Chapter 6
6
LULU
As fast as I collapsed, I snapped back into my body like a rubber band ricocheting. With a gasp, I pushed myself to my feet. Ignoring Dimitri reaching for me, I spun around and looked at the front door.
Energy flooded my veins like multiple dams breaking apart. Adrenaline and power surged inside me as I felt it swell to match the power on the other side of the door.
A sharp yelp pierced the air, and all four of us were scrambling through the front door and spilling off the porch and onto the front lawn. The scene was nothing I’d ever seen before, and time slowed to a crawl as I paused to take it in.
Fire licked up Nikolai’s legs, caging him in but not seeming to penetrate deep enough to burn. The flames danced and flickered, writhing like sentient beings as they wrapped around his legs. To his right, Tasha was on the ground, looking dazed. A ring of fire cut her off from the rest of us, the flames reaching for the stars hanging above us.
It was stunningly, horrifyingly beautiful.
The pulse of power from the other side of the yard caught my attention. A small woman stood swathed in dark clothes, her amber eyes glowing a golden hue that matched the tips of the flames. A twist of one extended hand had the flames moving toward us, and I swore I saw her lips twitch when we locked gazes.
I took a step toward her, almost entranced, as Dimitri gripped my wrist.
“Dad!” Skye’s cry snapped me out of my reverie.
With a roar, Remy shoved his mate at Dimitri and I. Remy shifted as he lunged, the fluid way his body merged with its beast a sight to behold.
Lifting her other arm, the foreign elemental’s lips whispered an incantation I couldn’t recognize. A moment later, Remy’s black wolf crashed headlong into an invisible wall. He went down with a pained whimper. When he didn’t move, my breath caught. Dimitri’s panic and worry bled into my soul, and the tempest building in my core settled.
As Dimitri held Skye back, I slipped free of his hold and braced my feet on the earth. I lifted my chin at the newcomer. “Who are you? What do you want?” The ground rippled under my feet, welcoming me back as I reached for the power it contained.
Those unearthly eyes clashed with mine as the corner of her mouth curled up. “My brother. Get Jack and I’ll release them.”
Jack .
My mind tumbled back to the boy—barely fifteen—who had been manipulated and controlled to the point of a psychotic break. He was currently being kept in a safe space while I worked to piece together what he knew about the missing female wolves across the United States.
Jack wasn’t well. His young mind had been bent beyond the point of return, but I was still trying. Jack deserved a second chance.
Pressure built behind my sternum as I reached for my magic, but it seemed just out of reach. I could feel it around me, shimmering like pieces of glitter in the air, but I couldn’t seem to grasp a single fleck.
A ragged breath sawed out of my lungs as I tried harder.
Her lips curved in a mocking grin. “We both know you won’t use the one power that might actually stop me, bitch.”
Then the strangest thing happened.
What seemed like a cruel smirk turned almost pitying as she regarded me, easily wielding her own magic like a fork while carrying on casual dinner conversation. Meanwhile I felt like I’d run a triathlon.
Remy. Nikolai. Tasha.
She dispatched half of us without breaking a sweat, and I could feel the raw essence of her magic calling to me, softly begging me to give in. To come home.
“Who are you?” I whispered, confused as my body and mind seemed to be pulled in different directions.
Her head tilted, a silky curtain of onyx hair gleaming in the moon as she chuckled. “Isn’t that the question? You know, you’re on the wrong side, sweetheart. You’re one of us. Not them .”
“What?”
All traces of empathy vanished as she snarled anew. “I’m sick of this shit. I came for my brother. Get him before I kill each and every single person in this pack. I don’t want to start a war tonight, but I will if I have to.” Her eyes cut to each of us before coming back to rest on me with a look that seemed to say, Don’t test me.
I swallowed hard, looking at my friends. My gaze found Dimitri, who seemed ready to let Skye go and attack.
“Let them go, and I’ll take you to Jack,” I offered.
Liar .
The word echoed in my head, and I had zero doubt it had come from her.
She cocked a brow. “Does it look like I’m here to negotiate?” She curled her fingers in a fist, and Natasha gurgled and clutched at her throat. Nik roared and twisted as the flames wrapped tighter around him, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.
“Jesus, stop !” Dimitri shouted, his eyes flashing as his wolf surged forward. “We’ll get your fucking brother, but if you hurt them any more, I’ll slit his throat myself.”
I felt the shift in the air a second before it happened.
I spun, desperately wanting to protect him, but I was stuck in place. “Dima, no !”
A fresh wave of energy spilled across the yard, leveling everything and everyone. I slammed into the ground, landing on my side to see Dimitri and Skye tossed in the air like ragdolls. They slammed into the base of a wide Siberian fir, the sounds of bone breaking like twigs of kindling being cracked and tossed into a fire.
Get up, I silently begged, my eyes on Dimitri. Was he breathing? What if he was…
The chaos was too much, and I felt something deep inside my soul crack. Like Pandora’s box being pried open, that small fissure was enough to unleash hell.
All of my magic rushed into me. My hands curled into fists, soft earth giving way under my touch as my nerves went electric. Goosebumps made the tiny hairs on my arms and the back of my neck rise as the darkness surged up to meet me.
Instead of running, I leaned into it.
Craved it.
Welcomed it like a soldier returning from battle.
This was what I was made for.
Wind swirled around us, lashing my dark curls across my face. Thunder rumbled, a freight train barreling toward us that I’d summoned from the depths of hell.
My lips pulled up in a ruthless smile as I turned my fury on the woman who had threatened my family and my home.
Threatened Dimitri.
Her eyes widened, genuine fear in them as lightning cracked across the sky and illuminated the grisly scene on the front lawn.
Good , an insidious voice whispered.
But as fast as it began, it started to wane. Like smoke dissipating in the night sky. The winds settled as my bones began to quake.
With a snarl, I tried to pull it back. Tried desperately to reclaim the power that was slipping through my fingers like the softest, smallest grains of sand.
“No,” I gasped, redoubling my efforts to try again. I strained until I felt my lungs spasm and my ears pop. Liquid dribbled from my nose, and the coppery taste of blood smeared across my lips.
A cold laugh hit my ears. “Pathetic.”
I could feel my body starting to fracture under the pressure, but I kept digging. Pain arced through my skull, driving me to my knees. This couldn’t be how it ended.
“And to think, you could have been the best of us.”
The mocking edge was softened by something resembling wonder. Like neither of us could believe I had failed.
The darkness returned again, this time swallowing me whole.